U.S. Marines, from multiple units of the 1st Marine Division, take their position to fire during an urban leaders course at the Kilo 2 military operations on urban terrain training area at Camp Pendleton, March 10, 2009.
U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Parker Blanche, an explosive ordnance disposal technician attached to 3rd Platoon, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, takes up an overwatch position in a small village near Bakwa, Farah province, Afghanistan, March 8, 2009. Blanche is providing area protection for Afghan National Police. Marines from the 1st Marine Division train with Division schools to advance their training with combat skills.
Monday’s Early Bird leads with an article from the New York Times reporting on the election of a new speaker to Iraq’s Parliament. Ayad al-Sammaraie, a Sunni Arab lawmaker who has until now headed Parliament’s Finance Committee, is expected to break a legislative gridlock, but could also lead to new confrontations with the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.The new speaker has been an outspoken critic of Mr. Maliki, whose party members cast blank ballots rather than vote for Mr. Sammaraie or a challenger. After the vote, however, Mr. Sammaraie pledged to cooperate with Mr. Maliki’s government.“Parliament should be complementary to the executive system, not hold it up,” he said. “I will work with everyone, even the members who didn’t vote for me.”
The London Times reports that 12,350 people still in US detention in Iraq are due to be released without charge or handed over to the Iraqi authorities for prosecution in coming months, under a security agreement between Baghdad and Washington.About 2,850 people have already been set free since February as part of the accord. Before that, US forces had released 85,000 detainees seized since the invasion. Many maintain they did nothing wrong. The US military believes that most were guilty - of something.The freeing of so many Iraqis has fuelled fears that some will join - or return to - the fight against US forces and the Iraqi Government, particularly as the judicial system cannot prosecute many of the suspects based on US intelligence alone. Over the past month there has been a sharp increase in the number of attacks; a sign that the instability and violence that plagued the country not so long ago is making a return. The concern is that releasing thousands of men - who, innocent or guilty, have spent time in detention - will fan the flames of resentment just as a semblance of order returns to the country.
The top U.S. general in Afghanistan said Sunday there wasn’t enough money in the world to replace the loss of an Afghan civilian, in comments that followed repeated calls by President Hamid Karzai for explanations of civilian deaths, according to a report in the Associated Press.Gen. David McKiernan said international forces do make mistakes — “and for that I apologize” — but that U.S. and NATO forces are working hard to minimize civilian deaths during operations.Karzai on Saturday asked McKiernan to explain allegations of six civilian deaths in two incidents. It was the second time in three days Karzai brought up the topic with him. The U.S. general was summoned to the presidential palace Thursday to explain other allegations of civilian deaths.
CNN aired an interview with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. For a transcript of the interview, click this link.\
A potentially troubling era dawned Sunday in Pakistan's Swat Valley, where a top Islamist militant leader, emboldened by a peace agreement with the federal government, laid out an ambitious plan to bring a "complete Islamic system" to the surrounding northwest region and the entire country, according to the Washington Post.Speaking to thousands of followers in an address aired live from Swat on national news channels, cleric Sufi Mohammed bluntly defied the constitution and federal judiciary, saying he would not allow any appeals to state courts under the system of sharia, or Islamic law, that will prevail there as a result of the peace accord signed by the president Tuesday."The Koran says that supporting an infidel system is a great sin," Mohammed said, referring to Pakistan's modern democratic institutions. He declared that in Swat, home to 1.5 million people, all "un-Islamic laws and customs will be abolished," and he suggested that the official imprimatur on the agreement would pave the way for sharia to be installed in other areas.Mohammed's dramatic speech echoed a rousing sermon in Islamabad on Friday by another radical cleric, Maulana Abdul Aziz, who appeared at the Red Mosque in the capital after nearly two years in detention and urged several thousand chanting followers to launch a crusade for sharia nationwide.
The Boston Globe reports that a North Carolina-based US Marine was arrested at Logan Airport yesterday after federal transportation screeners discovered an undeclared semiautomatic weapon, ammunition, and bomb-making materials in his checked baggage, authorities said.Marine Corporal Justin W. Reed was in Boston on a layover from Las Vegas and was bound for Charlotte, officials said. The materials in his bags apparently eluded detection at the Las Vegas airport and were discovered in Boston only because baggage handlers inadvertently routed his arriving luggage to baggage claim rather than onto his connecting flight, Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Ann Davis said."They put it on the baggage carousel as if he was staying in Boston," Davis said. "Because it was placed on the carousel, which introduced it into a public area, that required TSA to screen it before it was allowed back on a flight."Davis said the TSA was "actively investigating" why the illicit materials, including fuel and explosives, were not discovered during screening in Las Vegas and loaded onto the cross-country flight.TSA screeners in Terminal B at Logan called State Police at 7:10 a.m. after they said they discovered the following items in Reed's luggage: a locked gun box containing a semiautomatic handgun; a fully loaded gun magazine; several boxes of 9 mm and 7.62 mm ammunition; three model rocket engines containing an explosive mixture; military fuses; electronics kit boxes with various components; and a hand grenade fuse assembly with detonator.
A 5-pound missile the size of a loaf of French bread is being quietly tested in the Mojave Desert north of Los Angeles as the military searches for more deadly and far more precise robotic weapons for modern warfare, the Los Angeles Times reports.In the next month or so, researchers at the Naval Air Warfare Center at China Lake expect to test a 2-foot-long Spike missile that is about a "quarter of the size of the next smallest on the planet," said Steve Felix, the missile project's manager.Initially intended for use by ground troops against tanks, these small guided missiles have been reconfigured to launch from unmanned airplanes to destroy small vehicles. In the test, the missile will be fired from a remote-controlled helicopter and aimed at a moving pickup truck.If the test is successful, it will mark another milestone in the development of weapons for unmanned aircraft, a nascent field reminiscent of the early days of flight nearly a century ago when propeller-driven biplanes were jury-rigged with machine guns.
The Wall Street Journal reports that The U.S. is hoping an international donor conference this week in Brussels will raise money to help Somalia combat pirates on land before they attack ships on the high seas.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week that the U.S. was sending an envoy to Wednesday's conference as part of Washington's four-point plan to fight piracy off the African nation's coast. The U.S. views the meeting as a chance to improve the security services of Somalia's transitional government. Funds will also be raised for the African Union's peacekeeping force in Somalia.The U.S. antipiracy strategy includes meeting with the international Contact Group on Piracy and with shippers and the insurance industry to address gaps in their self-defense measures. The U.S. also will send a diplomatic team to consult with Somali leaders in the capital, Mogadishu, and in Puntland, the northeast region where most of the pirates are based.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The New York Times leads with word that CIA interrogators used water-boarding 266 times on two al-Qaida detainees. (Slate Magazine)
2. Suicide bomb hits Pakistani police: A suicide bomber driving a pick-up truck has killed 27 people in an attack at a police checkpoint in north-western Pakistan, police say. (BBC)
3. Walk-out at Iran leader’s speech: Diplomats have walked out of a speech by the Iranian president at a UN anti-racism conference after he described Israel as a “racist government.” (BBC)
Leading newspaper headlines
The New York Times leads with word that CIA interrogators used water-boarding 266 times on two al-Qaida detainees. The CIA used the simulated drowning technique, which senior Obama officials have described as torture, 83 times on Abu Zubaydah in 2002 and 183 times on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 2003. USA Today leads with a look at how the federal government has so far committed only $60 billion for projects from the $787 billion stimulus package. Of the $499 billion allotted to new spending, the bulk of the money has so far gone out as financial aid to states and to help carry out highway repairs, among other public works. Some are raising concerns that the money isn't being spent quickly enough to help the ailing economy.
The Washington Post leads with a look at how the Taliban takeover of Pakistan's Swat Valley has emboldened Islamist militant leaders to publicly urge the implementation of sharia, or Islamic law, in the whole country. While government officials hoped that they could slow the spread of extremism in Pakistan by appeasing the Taliban, it seems militants are more motivated than ever to take their fight to the rest of the country. "The government made a big mistake to give these guys legal cover for their agenda. Now they are going to be battle-ready to struggle for the soul of Pakistan," one expert tells the paper. The Wall Street Journal leads with the positive responses that President Obama elicited from Latin American leaders during the fifth Summit of the Americas. Cuba's Raúl Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez both made it clear they were willing to work with the new president to improve relations, but it's unclear whether the "overtures … would augur improved relations with the U.S. or just a smooth patch in a long and often unfriendly road," notes the paper. The Los Angeles Times leads locally with a look at how California lawmakers will be asking voters to take away $2 billion from popular state programs designed to help young children and the mentally ill. The programs were approved by voters, but now lawmakers want to use that money to help balance the budget.
The number of times water-boarding was used on two key al-Qaida prisoners wasn't mentioned in the initial coverage of the CIA memos released last week because it seems the information had been redacted in some copies. But the numbers were visible in others and started trickling out this weekend after several bloggers pointed them out. It's unclear whether the information was supposed to be redacted. When asked whether it was true that Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, had been water-boarded 183 times, Michael Hayden, who led the CIA for the last two years of the Bush administration, told Fox News he believed that information was still classified. Regardless, the numbers indicate that the controversial interrogation technique was used far more often than previously believed and raise questions about its effectiveness in eliciting information from detainees. In 2007, a former CIA officer told news organizations that Zubaydah had been water-boarded for a mere 35 seconds before he broke down and spilled everything he knew.
The WP hears news that Obama will gather his Cabinet for the first time today and order officials to come up with $100 million in combined budget cuts over the next 90 days. Although the cuts would amount to a tiny proportion of federal spending, they are meant to show that Obama is serious about reducing costs and reforming government.
The NYT off-leads with word that the Obama administration is considering converting the government's preferred shares in the nation's largest banks into common stock. This would allow the White House to stretch the $700 billion bailout funds without having to go to Congress to ask for more money. Changing the loans to common stock could provide banks with more than $100 billion in additional capital. While it wouldn't involve more taxpayer money, the move is likely to be controversial because some are likely to consider it "a back door to nationalization," as the NYT puts it, since the government could end up being the largest shareholder at several institutions. It would also involve a higher risk for taxpayers as the government's investment would be more vulnerable to the ups and downs of the stock market. This tactic was already used with Citigroup, and now the White House "seems convinced that this maneuver can be used to make up for any shortfall in capital that the big banks confront in the near term," notes the paper.
The WSJ takes a look at Treasury Department data and points out that biggest recipients of federal money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program made or refinanced 23 percent less in new loans in February than in October, when the program got started. All but three of the 19 largest recipients of TARP funds made fewer loans in February than October. The WSJ's way of slicing the data "paints a starker picture of the lending environment" than the government's monthly reports. Many say the Treasury analyzes the data in such a way that ultimately understates the drop in lending.
To top of document
Suicide bomb hits Pakistan police
Most of the dead were members of the Pakistani security forces
A suicide bomber driving a pick-up truck has killed 27 people in an attack at a police checkpoint in north-western Pakistan, police say.
Most of the dead are reported to be police or soldiers and at least 62 people were injured.
Police say the bomber rammed his pick-up into a convoy at the checkpoint near the town of Hangu.
The Pakistani Taleban, which is based in the nearby tribal areas, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The militants, who are allied to al-Qaeda, have carried out numerous such attacks over the past two years.
Senior police official Farid Khan told Reuters the death toll could rise still further because at least seven of the injured were in a critical condition.
He said a local police chief was among the injured.
Pakistani Pime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has condemned the attack as a "cowardly act of terrorism" and promised to use an "iron hand" against militants.
'Retaliation'
The attack happened at 1610 local time (1010 GMT) at Doaba.
"The bomber was driving a pick-up truck which he rammed into a convoy passing by a security checkpost," said Mr Khan.
A spokesman for Pakistani Taleban chief Baitullah Mehsud told news agencies by telephone that militants would continue its attacks on security forces.
"It was retaliation for the US drone strikes and security forces will have to see more attacks because our people have suffered many losses in the missile attacks," he said.
Militants based in Pakistan's north-west have launched attacks with increasing frequency in recent months.
To top of document
Walk-out at Iran leader's speech
Two protesters in brightly coloured wigs interrupted Mr Ahmadinejad's speech
Diplomats have walked out of a speech by the Iranian president at a UN anti-racism conference after he described Israel as a "racist government".
Two protesters, wearing coloured wigs, briefly disrupted the beginning of the speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but he continued speaking.
Shortly afterwards a stream of Western delegates walked out when he attacked the creation of the state of Israel.
Some of those who stayed clapped as Mr Ahmadinejad continued his speech.
The walk-out is a public relations disaster for the United Nations, which had hoped the conference would be a shining example of what the UN is good at - uniting to combat injustice in the world, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva.
UN dismay
The walk-out happened within minutes of the speech starting on Monday.
Moments earlier security guards escorted two protesters from the conference hall after one threw an object at the Iranian president and they yelled "racist, racist" as he stood at the podium.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continued his speech and was applauded by many
Mr Ahmadinejad, the only major leader to attend the conference, said Jewish migrants from Europe and the United States had been sent to the Middle East "in order to establish a racist government in the occupied Palestine".
The US, Israel, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and New Zealand had all boycotted the conference being held in Geneva, in protest at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's appearance, and Israel recalled its ambassador to Switzerland.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had warned that French delegates would walk out if the forum is used as a platform to attack Israel.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed dismay at the boycotts.
To top of document
No comments:
Post a Comment